Demarcation

Lawmakers from the Sam Rainsy Party say they will travel to Svay Rieng province next Monday to scrutinise the work of Cambodian and Vietnamese border demarcation teams and determine whether Cambodian farmers are losing farmland to Vietnamese incursions. SRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the party has asked the permission of National Assembly President Heng Samrin to visit the disputed area of the border. “We informed [him] last week about our trip to watch the planting of markers on the Cambodia-Vietnam border,” he said. “So far, we have not received a response from the assembly president, but as people’s representatives we must go.” On October 25, SRP president Sam Rainsy joined villagers in uprooting markers near the border in Svay Rieng, which villagers said had been placed on their land. Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker Cheam Yeap said that only Heng Samrin can give permission for officials to visit the disputed area, warning that if they travel without permission, they will face the consequences. “Doing something without [permission] is not right,” he said.